Tonight's Christmas Classic was "It Happened On Fifth Avenue", starring Don DeFore, Charlie Ruggles, Gale Storm and Victor Moore. While not set specifically at Christmas, ala "Wonderful Life" or "Miracle On 34th Street", it nevertheless passes through the holiday with an extended Yuletide sequence, and features more than enough "good will toward men" in it's script to be considered one of the greats in the limited genre. Moore plays "Aloysius T. McKeever", a homeless man who "moves in" every Winter to the large Manhattan home of Michael O'Connor (Ruggles), the second richest man in the world. When O'Connor leaves New York for Virginia each November, McKeever enters his boarded up Brownstone through a manhole, bringing his dog Sam with him. There they live, in the lap of luxury, until Mr. O'Connor returns in the Spring. McKeever is a textbook squatter, and very professional about it, too.
DeFore, who folks my age will remember from the "Hazel" TV series of the early 1960s, plays an ex-GI who's about to be evicted from his apartment so that the same Michael O'Connor can convert the building into a luxury high rise bearing his name. Shades of Trump! (oh the horror). DeFore is outraged at the eviction and rightly so. He's a veteran who has fought for his country and now his basic rights are being violated. He's put on the street through no fault of his own and winds up sleeping on a park bench, where he's awakened one morning by McKeever's dog Sam. McKeever, who is dressed in O'Connor's clothes and is living high on the hog at his house, feels bad for DeFore and invites him back to the mansion for a bite to eat. DeFore is grateful. He figures McKeever to be the wealthy owner of the estate, but the power keeps going out, among other weird things, and McKeever finally has to confess that he's merely a squatter. DeFore likes him even better after that, because McKeever is sticking it to the rich, but McKeever doesn't see it that way. In his eyes, he's merely using the building while the owner is away. He has no disregard for men of wealth, and in fact he fancies himself one. At Chez O'Connor, he acts like the Lord of the Manor.
One day, Michael O'Connor gets a call from the headmistress at his daughter Trudy's private school. She has run away and can't be found. Truth is, Trudy (Gale Storm) hates the place and wants to be her own woman, to get a job and maybe get married. She returns to New York City and heads straight for the family mansion to grab some clothes and other necessities. While inside, she discovers the new tenants DeFore and McKeever, who turn the tables by accusing her of squatting. They have no idea her father is the estate's owner. DeFore even calls her a thief for taking a mink coat from her own bedroom closet. He threatens to call the police, and that's when she gets an idea to play along with the mistaken identity. You see, she thinks DeFore is cute. She doesn't want the police to come and throw them all out because then she might not see him again, so she pretends to be a poor homeless waif who needs a place to stay. She asks the men to reconsider and they do. Meanwhile, Michael O'Connor has hired a private detective to locate Trudy.
By this time, she's gotten a part time job in a music store and is infatuated with DeFore, who's a dozen years older. The Private Eye finds Trudy at the store and alerts her Dad, who begs her to return to school. She tells him she won't go back, that she's happy being independent, and - most importantly - that she's fallen in love. He asks to meet the man, and this is where Trudy's brilliant idea comes into play. She confesses everything, about the squatting, about DeFore and McKeever, and, by this time, the other homeless folks they've invited to live in the house, including DeFore's old Army buddies Alan Hale Jr. (aka The Skipper), Edward Ryan and their wives, one of whom has just had a baby. Trudy goes on to ask her Dad a favor. She will introduce him to DeFore, if he will pose as another vagrant looking for a place to stay. She doesn't want DeFore to know her Dad's true identity, because he was evicted from O'Connor's building at the beginning of the movie. She's heard DeFore and McKeever railing against Mr. O'Connor on several occasions. Therefore, she is asking Dad to pretend to be a hobo, to come stay at the house and get to know DeFore, who she is hoping will propose to her.
Michael O'Connor is stunned and speechless to hear all of this, as you might imagine, but when Trudy says "Dad, you've always done everything your way. Can't we try it my way just for once"?, he can't say no. He and Trudy then go to a second hand shop (in a hilarious scene), where he purchases some old clothes. She brings him back "home", to his own house, where he's now supposed to be the latest squatter, and introduces him as "Mike", a man she's just met in the park. This is where the role reversals begin.
Mr. McKeever struts around like he owns the place, and treats "Mike" the newcomer, with offhanded contempt, telling him he can stay if he gets cleaned up and if he'll pull his own weight by contributing to the household. When "Mike" tries to help, by doing the dishes for example, McKeever criticizes him for being sloppy. Nothing is ever good enough for McKeever, but he tolerates "Mike", who is burning up inside because he's the second richest man in the world and he's being ordered around in his own home by a transient who's staying there illegally, eating all his food and smoking up his expensive cigars.
But O'Connor loves his daughter so he continues to play along. Meanwhile, his own estranged wife shows up and a subplot begins, in which McKeever will play the role of Cupid. In another subplot, Don DeFore will come up with his own brilliant idea to find homes for himself and his Army pals. This will pit him against O'Connor for a certain piece of land, but what he doesn't know is that O'Connor is already living in the house with him, as "Mike" the none-too-bright hobo.
"It Happened On 5th Avenue" was initially offered to Frank Capra, who chose to direct "Wonderful Life" instead, but "5th" has got a similar social conscience, and in fact one that is featured even more prominently as the thrust of the story. In the street scenes around Manhattan, we are shown many offices and rooms with "Vacancy" signs, the point being that rents are so expensive that no one can afford them, which in turn has led to the homeless problem. Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose, to quote Neil Peart, and it's so very true to this day. The commentary on this subject, however, is played as light hearted farce, in order to skewer the idea of the rich, uncaring autocrat while leaving the character of Michael O'Connor intact and with a chance to redeem himself. Hollywood in the Golden Era always attacked with vigor the socioeconomic policies of the One Percent, but they rarely depicted the individual protagonists, the "evil rich" characters in any given film, as men entirely without hearts. In this case, Michael O'Connor discovers his humanity through his daughter's scheme to introduce him to her new boyfriend. In the process, he learns about the plight of those less fortunate than himself, and even gets to "walk a mile in their shoes", through the charade he agrees to play.
Charlie Ruggles is just right for the role of O'Connor. We've seen him as a younger man playing fussy characters in screwball comedies, and he adds that quality here to remove some of the stuffiness from this man of great wealth.
Gale Storm is endearing as Trudy, and in fact you'll wish you had a daughter like her. She is portraying the idealised young woman of the 1940s, and is so good in her role that I'm surprised she didn't have as big a motion picture career as other ingenues of the era.
Don DeFore and Victor Moore are solid as the men affected by capitalism's side effects. Neither one ever allows his circumstances to dominate his outlook. Alan Hale Jr., with his sonorous voice, is especially good in a bit part promoting this essential American optimism. No matter where you are in life, Hollywood promises you a happy ending if you believe.
But the thing is, it's true. That's what Walt Disney tapped into as well, and of course it all stems from the story of Jesus Christ, which is why we are all here and discussing this movie tonight.
"It Happened On 5th Avenue" is a wonderful story of human kindness, played gracefully and with good humor, that will have you awaiting next Christmas so you can watch it again.
From me it gets Two Very Big Thumbs Up and a place in the holiday pantheon. ////
That's all for tonight. I am writing from home, gonna sleep in tomorrow and get ready for the Christmas Eve service at church. I'll see you tomorrow night at the Usual Time.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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